


A New Beginning

by dearly_beloved



Category: My Chemical Romance
Genre: Alternate Universe, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-29
Updated: 2016-08-29
Packaged: 2018-08-11 18:41:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,244
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7903486
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dearly_beloved/pseuds/dearly_beloved
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It is Frank's first day of college, and he's very nervous about meeting new people.  Luckily, a handsome guy in his art class gives Frank the motivation to introduce himself...</p>
            </blockquote>





	A New Beginning

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, this is a one-shot so ignore any awkwardness in the flow of things!! Nothing but fluff <3 Hope ya like it, wrote it in about 2 hours. FYI, I sadly don't own Frank, Gerard, New Jersey (or any of its cities), New York, or Disney animation, so don't sue me pls. I do, on the other hand, own this badass cute romance plot.

It was the first day of school and Frank was nervous as hell.

 

            Of course, he would never go so far as to admit it. 

 

            “Are you nervous?” his parents had asked, pestering him on the long drive to the dorms of the college stationed in New York.

           

            “No,” he’d scoffed, pushing away any anxiety he had about living with a new person, and starting a new life with completely new faces.  It struck him somewhere down the line that he probably would know not a single person at this new school.  It could be seen as a good thing- he was getting away from any reputations he had in high school, away from his dangerous city, away from the cliques and drama.  But, on the other hand, he had many good friends back in Kearny.  He already felt a bit lonely, knowing he would not yet have a single person he could meet up with for a bite to eat or jam with.

 

            He worried he wouldn’t be very good at meeting new people.  After all, he’d been surrounded by practically all the same faces since elementary school.  Although he did meet new people all the time, he’d always had at least a couple of friends he’d known from years before.  And that’s how he’d always met people- mutual friends.  Would he be able to make new connections when he knew not a single person at the college?  Only time would tell.  He drummed his fingers on his knees, looking out the window impatiently as they drove past grey cityscapes.

 

            At least he knew his roommate already.  A small guy, like Frank, but incredibly skinny with straight brown hair and glasses.  They got along surprisingly well, despite being chosen to live together by nothing but a random number generator.  They’d even met each other already at a punk show in Newark, as the guy was also from New Jersey (Irvington).  They liked pretty much all of the same films, and were into a lot of the same bands.  Although Erick, the roommate, was more into films as he was a film major.  And Frank was a lot more into music, being a music major.  At least Erick seemed to be very mellow, not much of the frat-guy-constantly-partying type.  Although a roommate like that would be interesting, Frank would rather be paired with someone who was less likely to throw up in his bed.

 

            The dorms were a lot different than Frank thought they would be.  The whole first weekend went by, without any wild parties.  He thought that maybe it was just because everyone didn’t know each other yet, but who knew.  He did get along with his roommate pretty well.  The guy was very easy-going, and although they weren’t instant best friends, they went to all of the mandatory Freshmen orientations together and often sat together at the dining hall.  Frank found that it was not as hard getting used to a new city and new living situation as he thought it would be.  Putting a few band posters on the wall, and with his Les Paul in hand, he instantly felt at home.

 

            Sooner than later, the first day of classes arrived.  Frank was not feeling very confident about his first class, which was an art class.  Along with tons of other college students, he made his way across the campus, away from the living quarters and towards the buildings that housed the classes.  The art classes were in building A, on the second floor.  Although he was nothing near talented at drawing, a visual arts class was mandatory for college and he thought he might get it over with as well as learning a few drawing skills along the way.  Besides, later in the day, he had music theory to look forward too.  Although it was very complicated and it would suck carrying his heavy guitar to class, he understood music much more than he understood anything such as visual art.

 

            As he walked into class just minutes before it started, he was startled to see that almost everyone was already there.  _Damn,_ he thought, _maybe in college no one waits until the last minute to walk into class like they do in high school…_

 

            Or maybe it was just because it was the first day.

 

            He saw that the classroom was set up with about 5 large tables.  He chose the one closest to the door where he’d walked in, and sat next to one of the only other guys in class.  He exchanged a shy smile with the black-haired man, and nodded in greeting to the girl who sat on the other side of them. 

 

            8:00 am marked the start of class, and the students exchanged confused glances as the teacher still wasn’t there.  Eventually Frank decided he should maybe at least try to make friends.  He debated with the idea of just introducing himself to others at the table.  Would that be weird?  He second guessed himself quite often.  He hated being shy.

 

            He glanced to his right again, looking over the guy who sat next to him.  Oddly enough, the man struck him with familiarity.  Where had he seen him before?  He had striking hazel-green eyes and must have dyed his jet black hair.  Frank struggled to remember where he’d seen him before, and the name _Gerard_ came into his head for some reason.  Then, suddenly it hit him.

           

            “Hey… this may sound weird, but didn’t we go to middle school together?”

 

            The man, most likely named Gerard, turned to Frank with confusion, “Ummmm…”

 

            _Oh shit,_ Frank thought, _I hope I’m not wrong.  That would be weird…_

 

            ‘Gerard’ suddenly seemed to recognize Frank as well- the other man saw the feint spark of recognition in his eyes, “Oh, yeah!”  Gerard said.  He smiled sweetly, “I remember you.  You were always so nice.  I’m Gerard, if you didn’t remember.”

 

            He stuck out his hand for Frank to shake, and the other man did so.  “Yeah, I remember.  Frank.” He said his own name, ending the conversation.  He thought about how it was quite a coincidence that he actually _did_ know someone at that school.   But then all of the sudden, he remembered exactly why Gerard would have pointed out that Frank was ‘always so nice’.

 

            He felt almost sorry remembering the situation from years ago, now.  Gerard hadn’t been the most popular kid back then.  He was overweight, and all of the other kids thought he was weird, would bully and harass him and call him a freak.  Frank knew he was one of the only ones who had never been so cruel to Gerard… that was because he simply didn’t agree with treating others that way.  And he’d always been ridiculously soft-spoken in his preteen years as well, too shy to speak up.  Too shy to defend a kid who even Frank’s own friends would make fun of.  He felt guilt consume him.  He wondered if things had gotten better for Gerard in high school.  He doubted they went to high school together- he would’ve seen the guy around.  Maybe things were better for Gerard.  He looked a lot happier and healthier and had definitely lost a lot of weight.

 

            “What high school did you end up going to?” Frank asked, curious.

 

            “Oh,” Gerard said, getting a bit quieter, “Well, I was homeschooled…”

 

            Frank grew quiet as he once again felt horribly guilty.  He didn’t want to ask why Gerard felt he needed to be homeschooled.  Didn’t want to think about how maybe he should’ve _done_ something about those other kids being jackasses, so many years ago.

 

            It was another 15 minutes before the professor finally showed up, complaining about there being no parking.  _Doesn’t nobody drive in New York?_ Frank wondered.  Maybe the guy should’ve just taken a taxi instead or something.

 

            The class started off with the teacher, memorably named Mr. Holiday, reading over the syllabus for the class and explaining what their requirements would be.  He conveniently decided to skip over the part talking about how tardiness would be unacceptable- due to how absolutely ironic that would be.  Eventually he decided that everyone in the class should share their name, where they’re from, their major, and what they planned to do in the future.

 

            The teacher started with the other side of the room.  The majors were pretty much half types of visual arts majors, and half other majors who were there to fill their art requirement (like Frank).  Some interesting plans a few of the students had for their futures was one who wanted to be a medical artist (like drawing people’s orangs and shit), one who had the most set plan in the world to get into working for Disney animation, and another who planned to be a pro football player.  _Good luck with that one,_ Frank thought, unable to hide his amusement.

 

            Eventually it was Frank’s turn to share, “Uh, I’m Frank, I’m from New Jersey.  I’m a music major, and I don’t really know what I wanna do.”  That wasn’t the truth.  Frank knew exactly what he wanted to do.  He wanted to be in a band.  He wanted to play music for the rest of his life.  But, he didn’t want to sound stupid, like the kid who dreamed of being a pro football player did.  Frank believed that he must be different, somehow.  He would dare to admit that he had a talent like no other when it came to playing guitar.  And he would prove such a thing to the world, once he was able to just get in a band.  He just hadn’t met the right people yet, apparently.

 

            Next, it was Gerard’s turn, “Hi.  I’m Gerard.  I’m an illustration major, and I want to be a comic book artist someday.”

 

            _Well, at least he’s not afraid to tell the truth_ , Frank thought.  He could see in the passionate look on Gerard’s face that the man was not lying.  And suddenly, he was aware of a feeling he’d always had for him, ever since they were barely older than boys.  _Admiration_.  Gerard was determined.  Even when the other kids all hated him, he somehow knew he was better.  Even when he dreams were hard to achieve, he seemed dead-set on reaching them.  Frank couldn’t remember any specific interactions he’d had with Gerard when they were younger.  But he did remember always seeing a spark in his eyes.  Always finding those off-green eyes so beautiful.  Fuck, could this be a crush?  Frank pushed the thought from his head.

 

            The art class was quite confusing for Frank, as he’d expected.  They had already started on the first day, looking at slide shows of something called “Figure Ground Ambiguity”.  Frank hardly had any idea what was going on, along with many other students.  But Gerard seemed to completely understand it.

 

            When the students were put to work sketching ideas for a future project, the teacher said that anyone could come up and chose music they wanted to play for the class on his computer that was connected to Bluetooth speakers.  Instantly, a rather cocky hipster kid went up and started playing some of the worst music Frank had ever heard.  He kept exchanging glances with Gerard, both of them giggling about how bad the music was.

 

            Eventually the two found out they had a pretty similar taste in music.  And Gerard was very passionate about music as well.  Through some persuasion, Frank was able to convince Gerard to change the music to something better.  He did end up going up there, and playing some David Bowie instead.  Frank gave him a thumbs up, pleased with the change of background noise.

 

            The class went by very slow, considering it was a nearly 3-hour long studio class.  And at the end of it, Frank was glad to get out of his chair and stretch his legs.

 

            “God, I still feel like I have no idea what the hell I’m doing with this emborigity thing,” Frank said as he put away his notebook and pencil.

 

            Gerard laughed out loud.

 

            “What?” Frank asked.

 

            “It’s _ambiguity_.  And, you know, I could help out, like if you want.  I am an an art major, after all.”

 

            Frank tried to ignore the fact that his heart fluttered in his chest, “O-ok, that sounds good.”  He flashed the other man a smile.  They walked out of the classroom together.

 

            “How about tomorrow?” Gerard continued, “when is your last class?”

 

            “It ends at 1,” Frank answered.

 

            “Great.  You know there’s a coffee shop just a block off campus?”  Gerard gave him a dashing smile, “I’ll buy you a drink and we can work on your art there.”

 

            Frank could hardly hide his blush.  Was this… a date?  “Okay.” Looking down.  “Sounds good.  I’ll see you.”

 

            The two exchanged numbers, and Frank said goodbye to Gerard as they left the building, and watched the other man walk off.  He would have never expected the kid from eight years ago to be so confident, so bold as of now.  But he was glad for it.  He was also glad that he had time to take a nap at his dorm, as it was only 11 and his next class wasn’t until 5. 

 

            As Frank got back to his room, he happily collapsed on his bed, smiling.   His first day of school, and he’d made a friend after all.

           


End file.
